A major long-term Australian study has found that older adults with stronger thinking and memory skills tend to enjoy higher levels of life satisfaction, positive mood, and health-related quality of life as they age.
Published in Aging & Mental Health and led by UNSW Sydney’s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), the research followed more than 1,000 older adults for over 12 years. None of the participants had dementia when they joined the study, making it one of the most comprehensive investigations into how cognitive ability relates to wellbeing in later life.
Looking Beyond Disease
While discussions about ageing often focus on illness or disability, the researchers say that how people feel about their own lives is just as important. The study examined two key measures: “subjective wellbeing,” which reflects a person’s own sense of happiness and life satisfaction, and “health-related quality of life,” which focuses on how people feel about their health and its impact on daily living.
Lead author Dr Michael Connors said both measures give older adults a voice in defining what successful ageing means to them — not just the absence of disease, but the presence of fulfilment and positive experiences.
Tracking Wellbeing Over Time
The Sydney Memory and Ageing Study assessed 1,037 community-dwelling older adults every two years. Participants completed detailed tests of thinking and memory, medical and health assessments, and surveys about life satisfaction, emotions, and quality of life. They also answered questions about depression, anxiety, and personality.
“We used advanced statistical modelling to examine how cognition and other factors were linked to wellbeing over time,” Dr Connors said. “Results showed that older adults with higher cognitive scores reported greater life satisfaction, more positive emotions, and better health-related quality of life.”
These links remained consistent across the 12-year study period, even after accounting for factors such as age, sex, physical health, daily functioning, relationship status, depression, anxiety, personality traits, and alcohol use. The relationship also held after excluding participants who later developed dementia.
More Than Just Mental Sharpness
Dr Connors said that while cognitive ability was important, it wasn’t the only factor influencing wellbeing. “Older adults who had better physical health and were able to function more independently in their daily lives tended to report higher levels of life satisfaction and quality of life,” he said. “Lower levels of anxiety were also strongly linked to better wellbeing. Personality made a difference too — people who were less prone to worry and emotional distress, and those who were more organised and self-disciplined, consistently reported better wellbeing.”
The study also found that being female, older, or living in residential care was linked to poorer health-related quality of life, though not necessarily to lower life satisfaction or mood.
Supporting Healthy Ageing
Senior author Professor Henry Brodaty AO, Co-Director of CHeBA and Senior Australian of the Year, said the results support growing public health efforts to promote both cognitive health and overall wellbeing in ageing populations. He added that more research is needed to understand what interventions can be offered to improve wellbeing.
A Broader View of Ageing
As populations age worldwide, the study reinforces the importance of looking beyond disease-focused measures and considering how older adults evaluate their own lives. It supports a consistent message from CHeBA that successful ageing is not just about living longer — it’s also about living well. It’s about improving health span as well as lifespan.
For more information, visit www.cheba.unsw.edu.au
